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Articles by James Murphy

Browse published articles attributed to James Murphy, with full-archive search.

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By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Checklists - Building Teams in Complex Environments

Humans excel at solving complex problems. Unfortunately, humans are also prone to making simple errors without a reliable 'road map,' or operations checklist. In the digital age, we are amazed at the abilities of computers to solve problems. But the computer's capacity to solve problems is limited. Computers are fast and accurate. But they are still incapable of solving the tough problems that face us every day in our working lives. We humans need help. We need other humans to help us solve complex problems more effectively.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

2,076 views4/5 (1)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Effects-Based Thinking: Part II

In 'Effects-Based Thinking - Part I', the definition of effects-based thinking, or EBT, was established as an approach to strategic planning which contributes to long-lasting organizational impacts. Expanding on this concept, let's look at what the differences between strategic planning with EBT and simply tracking progress with metrics are.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,440 views2.3/5 (3)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Recruiting America's Military Elite to Lead Your Organization

America's military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan's unconventional conflicts has resulted in an unintended consequence - elite military professionals that are experienced in independent and adaptive thinking and leadership. In a recent article, Time magazine charted how this war has created a new generation of elite military leaders, the same men and women who return ready to apply this knowledge to business situations.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,347 views1.8/5 (5)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Strategic Planning and Effects-Based Thinking: Part 1

As the name implies, effects-based thinking (EBT) is an approach to strategic planning and decision making where the effects of specific actions are assessed, not in a narrowly defined and time-limited way, but through a perspective that is sensitive to broad-ranging and lasting impacts. Effects-based thinking is the opposite of short-sightedness or myopia.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,246 views2/5 (2)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

The Value of Military Leadership Experience in Turbulent Business Environments

In today's turbulent business environments, every leader should be conce ed about how well his or her organization executes and how well it adapts to change. Execution has been on the list of top conce s of CEOs for years now. But the turbulent business environments of the past few years underscore the necessity for rapid adaptability and execution to survive and prosper in the new economy. What's the secret to executing in turbulent business environments and propelling an organization to the next level? There are many attributes that contribute to an organization's success.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,528 views2/5 (1)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Project Execution through Successful Leadership: How to Lead Like a Fighter Pilot

Practicing successful leadership seems fairly simple - one acquires the positional authority to lead, and does so by influencing or guiding others. But too often, "leaders" assume that just because they've achieved total project execution under their guidance that they deserve the title. To be sure, leadership is a concept measured by benchmarked success and achievements, but it is also a long-term manifestation of your actions and influence upon others.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,498 views2/5 (1)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Execution Rhythm Encourages Effective Business Communication

To say that the way we communicate in business today is undergoing major changes would be a wildly profound understatement. Many businesses simply feel overwhelmed by the advances of Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, not to mention the near total penetration of mobile devices like the iPhone and BlackBerry. The simple email and conference call, once the de facto standards, are now just two of the numerous tools in a crowded communications toolbox. Are these new tools bad, making effective business communication and Execution Rhythm impossible?

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,463 views2/5 (1)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Thirteen Elements of Effective Planning

All plans are not good plans. In fact, even good plans can fail. We cannot predict the future – we can only imagine it imperfectly. In our companies and organizations, effective planning is a social activity. Deciding on a strategic planning process as a group, rather than as an individual, adds even greater complexity to an already complex task. Collaborative and effective planning techniques, then, require 13 essential elements. 1. Effective and Strategic Planning Process

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,291 views2/5 (1)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Effects-Based Thinking Part III

In Part I of this series, I introduced the concept that, from the perspective of complexity, everything exists within a system. In Part II, I outlined a three-tiered framework of effects-based thinking (EBT) and planning that is critical to understanding how change propagates throughout these complex systems - the organizations, markets and communities in which we all live and work. In this final installment, I will explore how effects are planned and initiated within complex systems and how cognitive, adaptive leadership propels those effects.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,028 views2/5 (1)

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Flawless Execution: Bridging the Continuous Improvement Gap

Created in the 1980s by Motorola and popularized in the '90s at GE, Six Sigma has been shown to improve processes and reduce error rates, but does it still stand up to today's fast-paced, hostile business environment? In comparison, Flawless Execution, a continuous improvement process perfected ...

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

2,264 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

The Benefit of Safety Debriefing – Developing a Culture of Learning through Lessons Learned

Organizations must possess both formal and informal learning structures to adapt and thrive, and safety debriefing skills learned from a qualified consulting firm is just such a structure that is a necessity in any rapidly changing environment. Anyone who has not recognized the need for continuous learning in modern business has missed out on one of the most significant lessons learned in recent decades. The forces of rapid global change can render limited professional skill sets obsolete almost ove ight.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,885 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Organizational Gravity: Three Steps to Foster Continuous Improvement, Defy Obsolescence and Take Flight

Gravity can be a wonderful thing. It is an irresistible force that keeps us grounded on this big, beautiful, floating blue marble. It is even applicable to organizations in the form of organizational gravity. For example, I worked with an organization that coined a catch phrase for a challenge beyond its scope of control, deeming the situation a "gravity issue." They explained that "the situation is out of our control, much like gravity - you can't do anything about it."

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,625 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

More Than a To-Do List: Build Teamwork, Improve Execution with a Project Checklist

Two unique sources demonstrated a strong link between the use of a project checklist and effective team building in January 2009: the US Airways incident in New York and the release of a study on medical checklists. The January 2009 Special Article of the New England journal of Medicine ...

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,567 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Execute Rhythm in Six Steps with an Easy-to-Implement Strategic Planning Process

Many businesses have a strategic planning process that leads to objectives and goals that hopefully, in turn, lead to flawless execution. This process usually equates to some sort of far-off ideal and loose timeline for achievement. Few organizations have Mission Objectives that relate daily, weekly and monthly activities to these objectives and goals. And even fewer businesses have an identifiable common strategic planning process that eventually guarantees flawless execution outcomes.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,450 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

The Red Team: A Simple But Effective Method to Improve Mission Planning

The May 1, 2011 mission to find Osama Bin Laden has become one of the most celebrated military mission planning successes in recent memory due to the utilization of a little-known and seldom-used practice called the Red Team.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,355 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Collaborative Leadership: A Process for Success in a Turbulent World

Do you know how to provide collaborative leadership in a disciplined fashion? And how does one define disciplined collaboration? The current business and leadership literature touts the importance of collaborating in our turbulent world. Large and small businesses and teams struggle to wrap their heads around just what collaboration is.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,298 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

X-Gap: Using Strategic Planning to Close the Project Execution "Gap"

Teams and organizations are constantly plagued by project execution errors and failures. These failures create an execution gap -- a gap between what an individual and/or team plans to do and what they actually do instead. Just as retention rapidly degrades after learning, so does project execution after strategic planning. So what can be done?

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,256 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Executive Coaching and Debriefing for Corporate Leadership Development Programs

In today's management environment, new forms of and tools for corporate leadership development programs have emerged. One of the most popular development tools is executive coaching. The number of executive coaches has more than doubled in the past decade and corporate leadership development programs are utilizing their services more frequently. However, the fundamentals of executive coaching have actually been around for many years in the form of debriefing.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,246 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Simplicity and Elegance: Expressing Your Core Competencies

Do you know what your business's core competencies are? Is there just one or are there many organizational attributes? If you answered that there are many, how would you describe them succinctly? Core competencies are one or a combination of a few unique or rare abilities; however, a description of core competencies is not simply a laundry list of various organizational attributes. It seems like a simple task, but naming your core competencies can be very difficult.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

1,216 views

By James MurphyRecently published1 topic

Complexity: The Execution Challenge You Don't See

When you think of the word 'complex', do you ever think about what it has to do with project execution? Ask a management consulting firm to define 'complex' and you'll get a response like "well, it's a concept that can affect your life, your family, your team and your organization." That's because consultants understand that complexity lies in every aspect of strategic planning, whether at home or in the workplace, and that complexity is a concept that needs to be clearly understood in order to anticipate and overcome execution challenges.

Primary topic: Management Skills

Management Skills

975 views

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